On marketing.

New Agency Will Help Budget Let Fingers Do Walking

July 14, 1998|By George Lazarus.

At near $12 billion annually, Yellow Pages advertising is not a sector to be dismissed by any advertiser, even though it represents a mere 6 percent of forecasted total media spending in the U.S. in 1998.

Yellow Pages advertising can represent significant outlays for some companies. Consider Florida-based Budget Group, which is in the final stages of picking a new agency to consolidate about $26 million in Yellow Pages ads for itsunits.

Budget has narrowed a competition to Ketchum Directory Advertising here, which currently does Yellow Pages advertising for Lisle-based Budget Rent a Car Corp.'s car and truck rentals plus some other Budget Group units, and TMP Worldwide's Denver office, which has responsibility for Yellow Pages for Ryder TRS, a Denver-based truck-rental unit recently acquired by Budget Group; and the Northbrook buying office of D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles.

D'Arcy's Detroit office now works on creative and media on general-market advertising for Ryder.

Mike Gavelek, VP-marketing for Budget Rent a Car Corp., expects a decision by Sept. 1, following presentations in mid-August.

As reported, Hal Riney & Partners Chicago picked up at least the creative portion of the rental car firm's ad account, plus some other Budget Group units, total billing of $50 million.

Pillsbury hires P&G exec: John Lilly, a Frankfurt, Germany-based regional VP for Procter & Gamble, who currently has responsibilities for Europe, the Middle East and Africa for that firm, on July 27 becomes president of Pillsbury North America in Minneapolis. Lilly, 44, who has held key posts in a 20-plus year career at Procter, will report to Paul Walsh, chief executive of Pillsbury Co. Pillsbury North America has annual sales of $4.5 billion.

Pacific Wine taps Oliver: Jim Oliver, the Schaumburg-based divisional vice president for Robert Mondavi Winery's 16-state north central region, on Aug. 3 becomes VP-sales for Pacific Wine & Spirits Co. At Pacific, he'll report to John Terlato, president-chief operating officer. In his new post at Pacific, Oliver will succeed Franco Lenzini, who is forming his own wine brokerage firm. Pacific has been a distributor for Mondavi for about 30 years. Other personnel: Elaine Howard elected a VP at Market Facts Inc., Arlington Heights. . . . J. Burke Quinn to director of sales, Bretford Manufacturing Inc., Franklin Park. . . . Linda Schiffman to executive director of development, Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital.

Vittorini on `Parade:' Carlo Vittorini, chairman-publisher of Parade Publications, who next year will mark a half century in the advertising business, shows no signs of slowing down--witness his quick trip to Chicago last week to meet advertising decision-makers. Vittorini, based in Manhattan, since 1979 has been with Parade magazine, the newspaper supplement that includes the Chicago Tribune among its outlets. Parade now is distributed in 330 newspapers, with circulation of 37.5 million, a figure that Vittorini wants to grow to 40 million in the not-too-distant future. The Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera, a Scripps-Howard newspaper, will distribute Parade beginning in early August. Parade is in its fourth year of distribution in the Chicago Tribune, and the contract is up for renewal in 1999. As for advertising, Parade had a pretty decent 1997, with 682 pages, and revenues of $517 million, both up about 5 percent from the previous year, according to Media Industry Newsletter. This year is another matter, and Parade is down about 5 percent for the first six months, being adversely affected like other supplements by drug firms shifting some ad dollars into TV from print. Ever the optimist, "things look pretty good for the second half," said Vittorini, who will be 70 next February and has no immediate plans for retirement.

Juniors on parade: Junior League of Chicago's annual summer soiree--"An Evening in the Park" at the Chicago Historical Society (1601 N. Clark St.) on Aug. 7, is expected to raise $65,000, proceeds benefiting the group's community service projects and training programs. For information, call 312-664-4462.